Summit to debate soaring food, oil prices
[Luyanda Makapela] Africa needs to urgently address the issues of soaring food and oil prices and take appropriate measures as they negatively impact on poor households, said African Union Commission Chairman Jean Ping.

Inaugural FM Wine Business Award winners
The winners of the inaugural FM Wine Business Awards were announced at the gala dinner held at Gallagher Estate in Midrand last night, 26 June 2008. Celebrating the exceptional performance of the category winners in terms of best business practise, innovation and leadership, the ceremony revealed an astonishing representation of the wider South African wine industry.


African govts must unite against high fuel prices
[Edwin Tshivhidzo] Governments throughout Africa must unite against the high fuel prices, says Deputy Director General in the Department of Minerals and Energy, Nhlanhla Gumede.

PPI records an unexpected 16.4% high
[Bathandwa Mbola] The year-on-year producer price inflation (PPI) for all commodities in South Africa came at an unexpectedly high 16.4% for May 2008 compared to the 12.4% in May 2007.

Quantifying the contribution of service excellence to brand equity
[Craig Kolb] How important is service to maintaining brand equity? While intuitively most brand managers know that service excellence is one of the contributors to brand equity, its contribution is rarely quantified. In fact, doubts may exist as to whether service excellence even matters - especially in markets where both product and service appear to be essential to the value offered.

Growing centre of attraction in KZN's west
[ActivRetail] The Westwood Mall, the 35,000m^² regional shopping centre situated on the southern edge of the newly developed Westwood Estate in KwaZulu-Natal, is rapidly taking shape. This R650 million development is co-owned by Retail Africa and Spencer Gore Developments and is the retail component of recently completed Westwood Estate.


RAC Lite confirms speakers
[ActivRetail] Caxton and CTP Publishers & Printers have confirmed a host of top international speakers for South Africa's first RAC Lite - a one day version of the American Retail Advertising Conference. They will provide global viewpoints on the challenges that retail, advertising and marketing professionals manage around the world on a daily basis.

CGCSA names first accredited services supplier for PDC.za
The Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA) has named data quality management company InfoBlueprint as the first accredited data services supplier for South Africa's Product Data Catalogue (PDC.za), an initiative to improve supply chain management in the fast-moving consumer goods industry.

National Treasury welcomes banking report
[Bathandwa Mbola] The South African National Treasury has welcomed the recommendations of the Executive Overview of the Banking Enquiry Report by the Competition Commission which was released on Wednesday, 25 June 2008.

CPIX hits 10.9%
NEWSWATCH: The Consumer Price Index (CPIX), excluding interest on mortgage bonds, has breached expectation to hit 10.9% in May, it was announced earlier today, 25 June 2008. It was anticipated to reach only 10.8% after it's rise to 10.4% in April. Analysts have forewarned consumers that interest rates may go up again.

On fire with Proudly SA HomeGrown Award
Bandito's Chile Co has been named the SMME Company of the Year at the 4th Proudly South African HomeGrown Awards, which took place at the Birchwood Hotel, Johannesburg on 21 June 2008.


Sony Ericsson preps investors for gloomy Q2
[Keith Regan] Sony Ericsson, the world's fifth-largest maker of mobile phones, warned Friday that its second-quarter profit and sales figures would miss forecasts due to a combination of lower demand for higher-profit handsets and product delays.

PS3 gets a shot of adrenaline: Movies and a twirling globe
[Renay San Miguel] Sony's PlayStation 3 has taken a thumping from Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft's Xbox, but the company hopes to attract more devotees to its gaming console with a slew of new services, including movies and TV shows on demand, as well as global news and weather reports.

New look, partners for parenting lifestyle mag
From the August/September 2008 issue, RaisingKids will sport an updated modern format and increased distribution along with new partners Babies R Us and Toys R Us. Produced by TLG Publishing since November 2007, the magazine covers modern day issues to educate and empower parents of kids from birth to seven years.


Still life in Mars
The more diverse a company's range, the better it will be able to fend in a time of down-trading and belt tightening.

Racy JCPenney ad stripped from YouTube
[Katherine Noyes] For most companies, a corporate ad that spreads virally on YouTube is nothing short of a dream come true. Not so for JCPenney, which is protesting a racy and unauthorised ad that took the video sharing site by storm - until YouTube removed it.

Sharapova's design ace
Starting the Wimbledon tennis season with a dash of glamour and style, Maria Sharapova served up an ace on the catwalk with the unveiling of the Sony Ericsson Maria Sharapova Design Collection of mobile phone accessories to a select audience of international lifestyle journalists flown into London for the occasion.


Home-grown flavour: Celebrating all that is Local ‘n Lekker - Cadbury South Africa
With a market share just shy of 60%, it's safe to say that Cadbury is South Africa's favourite chocolate brand. And, this winter, the global chocolate company is about to become even more popular with local chocoholics, through the launch of four new mouth-watering Local 'n Lekker flavours.


Real food has proven to be better for your pets - Vondi's Holistic Pet Nutrition
We all acknowledge that healthy eating and living improves our quality of life and longevity. We now easily consult with dieticians, homeopaths, naturopaths, herbalists, and iridologists. We work out in gyms, perform tai chi, Pilates, and yoga.

Indulgent new flavours for ice cream connoisseurs
Häagen-Dazs has introduced two new mouth-watering flavours of ice cream to its menu. The own-branded ice cream shops in Sandton City and V&A Waterfront now offer raspberries & meringue, a combination of raspberry sorbet, vanilla ice cream and meringue pieces, and the limited edition apricot & cream flavour which will only be available until November 2008. Häagen-Dazs claims to use only fresh cream, skimmed milk, sugar and fresh egg yolk to produce its ice cream, which contains no artificial additives, stabilisers, emulsifiers or colourants. Cindy Hall, marketing manager of Häagen-Dazs South Africa says, "A number of new ... combinations have been added to the Häagen-Dazs Shop menu combining classic favourites with the newly launched flavour sensations. Customers are able to step inside for a sit down treat or order a scoop or two of one of the new flavours on offer." The raspberry & meringue pints will be available at selected retail stores towards the end of the year.


Sauve Sauvignon Blanc in bloom

click to enlarge

Zonnebloem has released its 2008 Sauvignon Blanc, packed with green aromas such as asparagus, freshly cut grass and green olives enhanced by tropical flavours that follow through to the palate, as described by winemaker Deon Boshoff. Selected from vineyards in the Stellenbosch, Darling and Malmesbury areas, the grapes for the wine were handpicked from mid-January to the end of February to offer the full spectrum of ripeness from the green and grassy flavours to the fuller, more tropical tastes. A complementary partner to chicken or fish dishes, the Zonnebloem Sauvignon Blanc 2008 retails at around R36 per bottle.


Gourmet lifestyle with Seemann's pies

click to enlarge

Lifestyle Brands together with creator of the Pieman's Pantry recipes and master chef, Daniel Chapat, has produced a delicious new range of gourmet pies which incorporates Seemann's finest quality meats and contain no trans-fatty acids. The Portuguese Trinchado Beef Pie is based on a rich filling of prime rump steak simmered in a rich red-wine gravy; while the Madagascan Pepper Steak Pie also uses prime rump steak, but in a creamy green peppercorn sauce. Third on the menu is the Moroccan Chicken Pie, with a blend of North African spices in a light sauce. Last but not least is the French Chicken Pie with a filling based on succulent chicken, cheese, smoked hickory ham and leeks. In all four, only real dairy cream, cheese and other fresh ingredients are used. All are based on the homemade Cornish pasty appearance wrapped in French style butter pastry and with an uncooked weight of 200 grams. Each box comes with colour coded and bar-coded packets. This range is produced at Foodcorps new First Lifestyle Industrial Park and will be available from July 2008.

US consumers also taking pain
A recent report released in the United States reveals that half of that country's low-income consumers are having trouble buying groceries.

This brewer wants to really know you
SAB anticipates customer requirements through behavioural scorecards designed to help the brewer really understand its customers.

Net generation driving growth in the global entertainment & media industry
The recently released PricewaterhouseCoopers' Global Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2008-2012, underscores the importance of continuing to extract revenues from traditional business segments while emerging technologies continue to solidify their consumer position. The report shows global compound annual growth rate (CAGR) at 6.6% for the sector, anticipating it reaching $2.2 trillion in 2012.

Advertise to workers at work to influence purchases
A new study, conducted by consumer intelligence firm BIGresearch, into the media and shopping behaviour of consumers at work, finds that Americans are spending 60% of their waking hours at work, more than ever before. Hence...

Opening doors for distribution centre conference
In the highly competitive retail sector where product availability is crucial and consumers expect their brand of choice to be on the shelves of their preferred supermarket all the time, 11 industry experts aim to address the fundamental issues of supply and demand at the 2nd Annual Best Practices for Modern Distribution Centres conference this July.

Building a big brand on a small budget
On the surface, building a big, well-recognised brand with a small budget would appear to be an unattainable goal - but NetFlorist, one of the country's largest online gifting services with an annual turnover of R37-million, has proven than it can be done.

The cyberspace domain blast
[Naseem Javed] Now you can buy any domain with any suffix. If a dotcom is gone, so what? For a cost, you can create your own suffix, any letters and any name. Domain names are made of three parts. The www, the "name" and the suffix like .com. With ICANN's latest decision yesterday, you now have full creative control over the last two parts. This is a revolutionary new concept creating a global scale boom in new names, massive confusion in duplication, global copycatting - all compounded with cyber-squatting, where piles of popular names will be turned into pyramids of shared stupidity.

The hyper-personalised business model trend
[Jamie Hanton] In March 2008, online product sourcing directory SaleHoo conducted an e-commerce behavioral survey of its members. SaleHoo's members are dedicated online sellers and retailers, and they are knowledgeable and savvy e-commerce users. The survey was comprised of eight questions - four demographic questions and four individual response questions - and it was a follow-up to a similar survey conducted three years earlier.

Keeping an e-commerce site cooking
[Keith Regan] Vendor meetings and site stress tests are just a couple of the typical daily tasks for IT department executives at e-commerce companies. Then there are long-term goals - such as overall site redesigns - that they try to work toward each day.

Dis-Chem boost for pharmacists
[Nicola Mawson and Charmaine Rapp] Dis-chem will expand through franchising enabling black entrepreneurs gain entry into the market.

Cough, cold medicines for infants under investigation
The Medicines Control Council of South Africa (MCC) has requested all manufacturers of cough and cold medicines to provide information regarding the effects of the ingredients on infants.

Govt prioritises biosafety in genetically-modified farm produce
[Shaun Benton] Government is making biosafety a priority not only in terms of genetically-modified organisms in food but also in terms of food products entering the country's borders.

Inaugural cosmetic 'Cover Look' competition designed for interaction
Global cosmetics brand, Maybelline, and SA's youth title, seventeen, have announced the inaugural Maybelline/seventeen 'Cover Look' competition.

Competition Tribunal brushes off Clover
Milk producers fail in attempt to have a complaint of anti-competitive behaviour against them withdrawn.

Enter integration
With the costs of doing business on the up and up, and the associated costs of creating awareness of your products and services getting more costly and competitive, marketers today have to ensure that every bit of the budget devoted to sales and marketing is used effectively.

Seven email tactics for driving traffic to stores
[Chad White] Recently an Email Experience Council member asked me whether retailers should drive sales online or offline with their email marketing.

Three-way partnership on in-store media
As part of vida e caffé's ongoing expansion into the local coffee market, an alliance has been created with publishers 8 Ink Media and Tagon Media to sell in-store media for the cult coffee company. The partnership includes loyalty cards, take-away coffee sleeves, stirrers, serviettes, tags, vida-fi (free in-store wi-fi), as well as a number of new initiatives.

Humanizing the online customer experience
If shoppers got the same kind of experience in real-world stores that they've come to expect online, sales floors would soon become a sea of empty shopping carts - and, despite fuel prices, customers would be pulling out of parking lots in droves to head for the competition.

JWT clinches tea deal
JWT Johannesburg has been awarded the Glen Tea advertising account. Glen Tea is renowned as the archetypical South African tea and has for many years held the high ground as the country's biggest black tea brand. Strategically positioned as a value brand, Glen Tea's taste is a firm favourite amongst South Africans. "[We are] proud that Unilever has entrusted us with this iconic South African brand," says Judy van Dam, Managing Director of JWT Johannesburg.

Losing the 'security guard mentality'
In the past 25 years, retail stores throughout South Africa have developed a 'Security Guard Mentality'. Whenever a retailer suffers losses in a store or a department, the tendency is to place a security guard to solve the problem.


Mobile security means business
[Edo Ganot] The proliferation of portable computing is fueling the need for mobile embedded security solutions. By enabling new applications while overcoming the risk of thefts and infringements, mobile security has become a vital requirement for both consumer and enterprise applications.

Not managing information effectively could be risky
[Sue Clarke] “…Senior executives must understand their responsibilities for the management of information - claiming ignorance of poor practices is no defence…” Many firms are failing to manage their unstructured information, which can comprise 80% of their total data, effectively - and that could be very risky.

Research reveals construction industry balancing act
The current supplychainforesight research into the state of the industry's supply chain demonstrates a sector where strategic supply chain thinking has traditionally been in short supply, but that those companies who are focusing on it are earning competitive advantage.

When will BI head downstream?
The major players have overseen a consolidation of the business intelligence market, but few viable options are available for small and medium-sized businesses. There is a shuffle to provide for this unmet need, and solutions appear to be on the way, writes Shadan Malik, CEO of iDashboards.

Dell targets creative types with colour, customisation
[Katherine Noyes] US - Dell on Thursday introduced a new, colorful laptop line aimed at artistic and creative consumers.

Sweet science: IBM teams with chocolatier to grow better beans
[Chris Maxcer] IBM is putting its considerable computing horsepower to use in the search for better chocolate. Big Blue, the US Department of Agriculture and chocolate maker Mars intend to analyse the entire cocoa genome in order to better understand how to produce crops that are less susceptible to disease and produce higher yields.

SA firm opens imaging bureau in Luanda
South African enterprise content management (ECM) firm Digital Archiving Systems (DAS) has opened an imaging bureau in the Angolan capital. The enterprise, which is worth US$250,000, will see the employment of 10 skilled ECM workers.

Beyond CRM 2.0
[Denis Pombriant] The price of oil and the disruptive force of a changing energy infrastructure is touching nearly every corner of the world's economy, and that includes CRM. Get ready for fewer face-to-face meetings and even more reliance on technology and over-the-Web interactions.

Payment system uses voice print as signature
[Dave Bailey] A British voice-recognition firm is rolling out back-end software to accompany its voice payment system that's been on the market for just over a year. Voice Commerce Group added Voice Transact to its Voice Pay system. The system verifies a caller's identity using his voice signature, which can be used to pay for goods, transfer funds or withdraw cash.

Powering up your phone despite the power out

click to enlarge

Combatting the inconvenience of power-cuts as an almost wireless battery-operated adapter, the Emergency Mobile Phone Charger allows users to recharge mobile phone batteries without the need for electricity. The charger can be used for any make and model of mobile phone as it comes with 5 different adapters for use on Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Siemens, Motorola, Samsung, HTP, Blackberry etc. These innovative chargers are fully re-usable and simply require an AA alkaline battery to give 30 minutes of extra talk time whenever your battery is flat or low. Once the charger is connected to the phone, it will start charging immediately - safe, convenient and functional for any emergency. Each device is portable and only slightly larger than the battery used to charge it. It's available in black, silver, gold, purple, red and blue and only costs R149.95. Distributed solely by Mobile Gadgets, visit www.mobilegadgets.co.za for more information.

Theatre of tasting tutorials at Stellenbosch Wine Festival
[ActivRetail] Learn more about wine and get up close and personal with leading winemakers at the hands-on Wine Magazine Tasting Theatre at this year's Stellenbosch Wine Festival taking place from 31 July - 3 August 2008 at the Paul Roos Centre in Stellenbosch.